Hello,
Ok here is the problem and I know I am asking for the world:
Take a low res file and make it (much larger) without the pixelly smoothy/fuzzy look (;create added new clear and sharp information??).
Are there any other programs (plug-ins) on the market that will take a
low res file and enlarge it (up to 500%+) without creating a smooth and smudgy mess?
And yes I have tried (over the past 10 years; I am a 20+ year digital professional retoucher/ illustrator/ artist) every single possible Adobe Photoshop formula in every version since 4.0 (as well as other programs on my SGI box) for doing this to absolutely now avail.
Nothing at all works!
I vaguely recall recently a show on TV explaining (FX Channel??) how they can take now older films (like Apollo 13 for example) shot in conventional 35mm run it through a software (I don't know what?) and create a new CLEAR 70mm larger format (for larger screen theaters?) without the smoothing/fuzzy effect that you commonly get. Apparently
this software has a superior pixel averaging capability that creates or
interpolates "missing information" (if you will)??
Please,please if you know of any software or programs, please list them or perhaps links as to where I can get more information.
Thank you very kindly in advance.

According to what I have read lately, the best tools for enlarging images are Genuine Fractals and S-Spline. On second place is Lazcos interpolation which is available, e.g. in the freeware Irfan View at www.irfanview.com.

I've been using Alien Skin Image Doctor with pretty good results. It does a good job reducing the halos around re-sized images and cleaning up pixels. Again, if it's a low res images, you can only go so far.

I have taken a frame from a digital video (768 x 576 at 72 dpi) up to 1 metre x 1.25 metres at 300 dpi and had it printed.

I followed Ben Willmore's tip that you only increase the size of your image by 10% increments. This takes a while, but after running unsharp mask you should have a much better image than you would have thought possible.

You didn't state what size or dpi you were starting from and wanted to achieve, but the 10% at a time rule works ok because the software doesn't have to interpret a large section of pixels at a time. It copes better with smaller amounts and if you need to you can clean things up as you go.

Watch the colour discrepancy though, as I found that when I did this with an aqua colour, the greater the dpi, the stronger the blue came through and I had to use Hue and Saturation to fix the final image.

A Photoshop Action: $15 US. I've used it and it is amazing. It is an automation of the 10% increase in image size explained below. It is called Stair Interpolation. Think of the possibilities of using low-res low-cost images for print media. Or using a lower res camera and getting high res results. I can't praise this action enough.

The incremental 10% enlargement which is also used in the "Stair Interpolation" actions from Fred Miranda was rated as good as Lazcos interpolation in an article which tested several of these methods. But it is said to be less effective than S-Spline and Genuine Fractals.

Everyone can easily create an action in Photoshop that does these 10% enlargements. For example for a 200% enlargement, you need seven 10% enlargements and one 2.6% enlargement.

Interpolation can work very well, up to a point. Now, go all the way down to a one-pixel image and try to enlarge from that. See what I mean? It's what Kodak used to call "false enlargement". The information just does not exist.

You could make 10% increments with both tools, but I wouldn't recommend that. First of all, it means too much work. Secondly, 10% increments remove image details. Thirdly, you can simulate the 10% incremental effect with other means.

The 10% increments have the advantage of increasing local contrast in an image, but the disadvantage of reducing image details. So it is better to apply a local contrast adjustment after the enlargement. To do that you have to apply the Unsharp Mask filter with a high radius value and a small amount value.

Another trick for better quality is to sharpen the image before and after the enlargement.

modsquad wrote:I vaguely recall recently a show on TV explaining (FX Channel??) how they can take now older films (like Apollo 13 for example) shot in conventional 35mm run it through a software (I don't know what?) and create a new CLEAR 70mm larger format (for larger screen theaters?) without the smoothing/fuzzy effect that you commonly get. Apparently this software has a superior pixel averaging capability that creates or interpolates "missing information" (if you will)??

I am no expert on this, I generally use Irfanview or Genuine Fractals to resize, however an Overview of Seam Carving see
http://www.seamcarving.com/ caught my eye and I found Resizor, a free program at http://www.peterw.000webhost.com/resizor/which among other techniques uses Seam Carving.
I have not had a chance to really try out the program, so cannot at this time comment with any authority.